Had a lot of visitors in Beijing the past week. Always cool to show people around this city. And it takes me back to some places I had not gone for a while. A New York friend of mine’s daughter and her friend came to Beijing for the first time. I pointed them to the Wall, City, and Square of course..and took them to places like the Old Beijing noodle place near Hong Qiao and Lijun Peking duck in a hutong. I always seem to run into the owner there, and I told him that I did the English voice on a 20 min feature on him on BeijingTV…I learned that an American had helped him get his business going in the 1990’s…It was cool to take visitors there for an authentic experience.

ashley and chelsea in beijing

And this week I got together with Cathy, a friend of mine who worked for CCTV a decade ago and has since married Rob, a Canadian. With their son, they live in Canada. Well, they invited me to dinner with her family and friends, and one friend was Mr Li who is known for fortune telling. At one point he started offering fortune telling to those of us who are younger. I guess older people don’t need advice! He said I would have a very good year this year, and that my next ten will be smooth… I will buy him dinner if he is right! He is 76 years old…and has a great reputation in this…

(me and mr li, fortune teller)

He looked at out facial structures, said I had a warm smile and that would bring good luck…Anyway, it was good fun, and he has a great sense of humor. Do you believe fortune tellers?